Hardwired communications and computing devices are no longer the preferred tools of the trade for doctors and nurses at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC) in Winston-Salem, N.C. That is because the academic health system has gone wireless. The 1,300-bed facility–comprising North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Brenner Children’s Hospital–concluded that a campus-wide wireless network would give medical staff faster and easier access to patient records via its electronic medical records (EMR) system.

First installed in the mid-1980s by British Telecom for use in outside-plant (OSP) applications, blown optical fiber is a system in which fiber is blown into a network of microduct tubes via an air-delivery system of compressed air or nitrogen. While blown fiber still represents a very small percentage of the premises marketplace, and critics continue to question the system's fiber protection and cost savings, acceptance is being fueled by new standards and the buy-in of some key customers. Hence vendors continue to enhance their systems with new products and features, and many claim growth in specific market segments.